Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,147

this to Henny.

CHAPTER 21

Lettie studied herself in the mirror. She wore a plain pink cotton dress today, and her hair was pulled back at the sides with combs. She supposed that for thirty-two years old, she was still attractive. Everyone else was always telling her so, and she knew women her age who looked sixty. Luke had always insisted she keep creams on her skin and wear wide-brimmed hats to keep the sun off her face—Luke, who was himself becoming tanned and leathered from that same sun; but on him it looked good.

Lately the thought of him made her heart flutter again. She had been in better spirits since her visit with Henny, and her talk with Annie Gates. She wasn't sure what she was going to do or say to Luke when he got back. She only knew that she missed her husband.

Seeing Ty again had awakened an ache for her husband she had not felt in a long time. Ty had come home with Oatmeal and a couple of other men, and she could swear her son had grown even taller over the summer. Her first glance at him when he came through the door, still dusty from the trail, had stirred memories of Luke coming home that way.

She walked over to straighten the bed, remembering what she and Luke had once shared in it. What if something happened to him before they could work out their problems? What if she never got the chance to hold him again, tell him again that she loved him? She walked to the window, looking out at familiar sights, the ranch Luke loved so much, even more barns and outbuildings, a lovely lawn and gardens around the house now, new men being hired every year, cabins scattered throughout the valley to house them.

Her pleasant thoughts were interrupted when she spotted a buggy coming up the drive. She recognized it as Nial Bentley's, and this time his appearance stirred the old irritation she had once felt for the man. She hurried downstairs, realizing she did not look her best today and not caring. Her thinking had not been this clear and sure since Nathan ran off, and she knew what she had to do. She had to set things straight with Nial before she saw Luke again.

She opened the double front doors just as Nial was tying the horse that pulled his buggy, and she thought how unlike a true rancher he was. There he stood, in a dapper suit, all neat and manicured. His men did all his work for him, while he sat directing things from his stone mansion, or went visiting another man's wife. Why hadn't she noticed all these things before? She was glad Ty was out helping with the hay harvest, and the other three children were upstairs taking lessons from Elsie, who had her six-week-old daughter with her. The birth of Elsie and Peter's baby had been one of the few bright moments at the Double L since Luke had left on the cattle drive.

Nial's eyes lit up at seeing she was already at the door, as though he supposed she was eager to see him.

Lettie did not smile. "Come in, Nial. I want to talk to you."

He frowned then, coming inside. Lettie closed the door and whisked him into the parlor, sliding closed the parlor doors.

"What is it, Lettie, dear?"

Lettie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around. "Don't call me dear, Nial. It isn't right." He laughed lightly. "Well, we've grown so close—"

"That was my mistake, Nial. I think it would be best if you stopped coming here. You always pick a time when you know Luke is gone."

Nial stiffened, alarmed. What had happened? She was changed. He had been so sure his plan for winning her over was working. "Well, that—that isn't so. I thought he would be back from the cattle drive by now."

"No, you didn't. You know a posse has gone out after cattle rustlers. You know they hoped to intercept Luke so he could go with them. You knew it the day you visited me before I went into town to visit Henny. Some of your own men went with them. Why didn't you tell me, Nial?"

The man reddened slightly. "Well, I—I didn't want you to worry. You have had so much worry and sorrow over these past months—"

"You didn't want me to start fretting over Luke. You didn't want me to think about him at all."